Recently I had received an invitation of a book launch program orgainsed by Penguin Books. The occasion was launch of "Conversations with Waheeda Rehman" by Nasreen Munni Kabir. There, I got an opportunity to interact and converse with the women known for her natural talent and haunting beauty. And she is none other than the actress Waheeda Rehman.

One
of the first thing that came in my mind when I saw Waheeda Ji in the
evening was her toe tapping number so beautifully picturized on her "Rangeela Re Tere Rang Mein Yun
Ranga Hai Mera Mann . . . Chhaliya Re Na Bujhe Hai Kisi Jal Se Yeh
Jalan . . . Rangeela Re” from
the 1970 release "Prem Pujari".

In
Focus

The
song was shot in the exotic location of Switzerland in Hotel Grimsel
Hospiz surrounded by mountain peaks that were so spectacular that
they were giving the aristocratic feel. Waheeda Ji is distinctly seen
intoxicated, lost in dancing and shaking off her whole body in this
lovely number at the party. Her moves provokes actor Dev Anand so
much that he throws glass of wine as he could never believe her lover
would drink and dance openly in the public.

The
film was Produced, Directed and Written by Dev Anand for Navketan
Films. There were awesome lyrics by Neeraj coupled with melodious
compositions by Late S.D. Burman and voice of none other than the "Melody Queen" Lata Mangeshkar.

From
the devastating loss of her parents at a young age to making a life
in Cinema on her own terms, the odyssey of Waheeda Rehman has indeed
been a voyage of discovery. Even at the ripe age of 76 septuagenarian
and Indian Cinema's most beautiful women, actress Waheeda Rehman is
still seen to keep herself busy and occupied.

In
this engaging book of conversations with Nasreen Munni Kabir, Waheeda
Rehman proves to be a lively raconteur, speaking about her life and
work with refreshing honesty, humour and insight: from insightful
accounts of working with extraordinary film practitioners like Guru
Dutt, Raj Khosla, Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Vijay Anand
to her friendship with stars like Nargis and Nanda.

A slice of cinema
history told through compelling anecdotes and astute observations,
conversations with Waheeda Rehman provides a rare view of a
much-adored and award-winning actress of Indian cinema.

Renowned for her natural talent and beauty,
Waheeda Rehman's career spans an astonishing array of key films in
Indian cinema, including Pyaasa, Abhijan, Mujhe Jeene Do, Guide,
Teesri Kasam and Rang De Basanti.

As
soon as I got the opportunity to interact with Waheeda Ji I could not
resist my temptation to ask her this question:

Q:
Had you not been an
actress which other profession you would have chosen and why?

A:(smiles) Had I not been an
actress I wished to become a Doctor. While we were young, medicine
was considered to be one of the most respectable profession for
Women. I always wanted to work, and I even told my father I wished to
become a doctor. I am still fascinated by medicine and the profession
would have given me the opportunity to meet and treat people with all
my love and faith.

Now
whether Waheeda Ji became an actress or Doctor is secondary but the
one thing she was very sure of was that all the four sisters would do
well in life. She even told her father: "Daddy, don't worry, one
day my photograph will appear in the papers. I don't know why, but it
will."

She had also told her father that she would own a farm and,
many years later, she did. Rightly said, "Things do work when we
listen to our inner voice" and Waheeda Ji's voice of confidence was
no exception.

Nasreen
Munni Kabir's 'Conversations with Waheeda Rehman' abounds in
anecdotes from the iconic life of one of Indian cinema's most
beautiful women actors.

Here
I would also like to say that Nasreen Munni Kabir is a reputed
documentary film-maker and writer on films. Based in London, she has
made several programmes on Hindi cinema for Channel 4 TV, UK,
including the forty-six-part series Movie Mahal and The Inner/Outer
World of Shah Rukh Khan.

Her
several books are, among others, Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema, Talking
Films and Talking Songs with Javed Akhtar, A.R. Rahman: The Spirit of
Music, Lata Mangeshkar: In Her Own Voice and, most recently, In the
Company of a Poet, a book of conversations with Gulzar.